The new news 24 thread

[ruffgeezer]

I put a deposit on a new car today,  naturally it's pre-broken and I can't bring it home until something else leaves.  A slack ebay dispatch means that the new fuel filter housing for the van is going to be lost in the post for fucking ages.  I support the strike, but not ebay bumholes who say they've posted things on the 17th that don't actually make it into the Post Office for a further 2 days.

[RoverFolkUs]

3 minutes ago, HarmonicCheeseburger said:

1. We have checked spark the HT lead is sparking 100% fine.

2. We don't have a compression test unit handy and swapping injectors would rule out fuel since C1 fires just fine, running on the basics Spark, Fuel, Air as our diagnosis. 

3. With no spark plug in C4 when the engine was fired up while we checked for spark you could hear the air being pushed out of C4, now I know this is not as good as a compression test, but myself and my buddy are confident it has compression.

Either it's a dead/stuck injector, or a stuck valve that has not dropped.

1) you can't be 100% sure of that by pulling a plug out and earthing it against the block. Existence of a spark does not equal a good spark. 

2) buy one, literally £12.50 and anyone who fiddles with cars needs one. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/363846164185?

3) 20 psi would still be compression but it's inadequate. No way you can measure compression accurately by running the engine without a plug in. I'm not sure how you can even come to the conclusion that there's compression when there's nothing to compress! Air will be inducted and escape through the path of least resistance on the compression stroke which will be the spark plug hole. As soon as the plug is back in it'll escape somewhere else - i.e burned valve seat. 

As I've already said, you don't need to swap injectors around to rule out fuel. Spray some easy start or brake cleaner into the intake and see how it behaves. If it still runs like shit then you know it's definitely getting fuel to cyl 4 along with the air 

Don't forget you have valve overlap in valve timing. So the test you found on YouTube isn't entirely foolproof

Pulling injectors is a ridiculous diagnostic procedure, you have the risk of breaking 2 injectors if they don't come out in one piece, before knowing what your compression figures are

If I started pulling injectors before doing a sodding compression test I'd be out of a job. Not really, but you get the point. 

A burned valve is more likely than a stuck valve..

[jonathan_dyane]

On holiday in US, unexpectedly the hire car is a (brand new, had 4 miles on) Dodge Charger. It's giving me bad thoughts about what a good car the Challenger must be...

[Zelandeth]

13 hours ago, mitsisigma01 said:

I didn't know Milton Keynes had a castle 😲 

90 metres of guttering !!!

8k for fascias, soffit and guttering... Gold plated 🤔

Around £100/metre seemed to be the going rate for replacement of the soffit boards (rather than just sticking new over the old) when I looked a couple of months back.  The cheapest quote we got for it was 5K, and that required us to provide the scaffolding ourselves.  The guy who gave us that quote also very much gave me the impression that the materials used would have "fallen off the back of someone else's van."

There's a lot of boarding on this house.  The fact that there's three levels of it out back doesn't help in that respect either.

Either way I know the guys we have working here just now aren't the cheapest, but I'd rather have a job done properly than done cheaply at the end of the day.  The fact that the previous owner of this place had *everything* done by the lowest possible bidder has been one of our biggest headaches since the day we moved in here.

[Lacquer Peel]

My sister's appliance and the vehicle of the future next to it.

It is my favourite vehicle, you feel like you are floating on this boosty veg fuelled cloud, it has an XUD9TF engine with a Bosch pump. I turned up the fuel pump with @Supernaut's assistance, the gearing is quite short but it will do 80MPH uphill and keep accelerating, and keeps up with most traffic now. I put Maxxis all season van tyres on it and it feels very secure on the road now it's cold and wet.

It's class.

 

[loserone]

Perfect registration for Len, too

[wuvvum]

I'd be interested to try one of those with the XUD9TF.  I've had a few but they've either had DW8 power* or DW10 which go well enough but are quite high geared.

I did once have a Fiat Ducato van with the turbo XUD and that was hilarious - ran out of revs at 78 in 5th but accelerated like a scalded cat.

[RoverFolkUs]

Had a Rover 75 in this morning for some MOT repairs to go back for retest elsewhere.

It's reaffirmed how much I want one

It was a 1.8 Manual so more resembled a boat anchor but I still would

Sills were clean with only surface corrosion on the inner side. They looked original too. Only things were the rear upper arms which were very scabby and probably be needing changed before long. Ok for now though 

Was just all the normal R75 shit - airbag light, exhaust, bonnet stuck shut, cloudy headlights etc but all done now, very refreshing to work on older chod in addition to the modern crap 😁

Especially when I knew exactly how to release the stuck bonnet and sort the SRS light, as does every Rover owner probably!

[reb]

Well that went well.

Unemployed now.

Something about blatant disregard for operational security or something like that...

[reb]

On a more positive note, I've more than met my step goal every day this week!

[High Jetter]

3 minutes ago, reb said:

On a more positive note, I've more than met my step goal every day this week!

Because of the placement of my cursor, I read that as step goat! I was getting really concerned about you for a bit...

 

[Lacquer Peel]

5 hours ago, wuvvum said:

I'd be interested to try one of those with the XUD9TF.  I've had a few but they've either had DW8 power* or DW10 which go well enough but are quite high geared.

I did once have a Fiat Ducato van with the turbo XUD and that was hilarious - ran out of revs at 78 in 5th but accelerated like a scalded cat.

A DW8 one must be dismal. It goes pretty well with the XUD9TF and even better with the injection pump turned up a little. 

The gearing is something like 23MPH/1000rpm in this so pretty low geared and thirsty but it's veg, who cares.

[wuvvum]

1 hour ago, Lacquer Peel said:

A DW8 one must be dismal.

I can confirm.

[RoverFolkUs]

2 hours ago, reb said:

Well that went well.

Unemployed now.

Something about blatant disregard for operational security or something like that...

Based on your description of how shit it made you feel, maybe for the best in the long run before it burned you out completely. Completely understand that you probably wont see the bright side immediately after the "oh shit!" moment of becoming unemployed though!

[Lankytim]

W00t! The Laguna went and passed! So proud. 

[wuvvum]

Excellent!

[Zelandeth]

Oh joy, the old soffit boards have now been removed from the house and hey look, two of the gable end rafters are totally rotten.

Not entirely surprised, was fully expecting some horrors to be uncovered, still sucks though!

[Bren]

Just booked the flying lesson I got for my 50th.

Wife disappointed she couldn't come - told her at least she wouldn't see the crash.

[Metal Guru]

53 minutes ago, Bren said:

Just booked the flying lesson I got for my 50th.

Wife disappointed she couldn't come - told her at least she wouldn't see the crash.

Hope you get a nice day. I had one and it took three attempts due to low cloud.

[richardmorris]

3 hours ago, Zelandeth said:

Oh joy, the old soffit boards have now been removed from the house and hey look, two of the gable end rafters are totally rotten.

Not entirely surprised, was fully expecting some horrors to be uncovered, still sucks though!

Could be worse, the police found a girls body in the loft in MK!

[barefoot]

My Scirocco has returned from the garage this afternoon, all welded, MOT'd and with a horn that now only honks when you press the button. Huge bill to follow.

[gm]

i received a message from my brother this morning “got a tyre warning light on the dash - can you have a look ?” 

i met him at the park ‘n’ ride when he finished work

”aye, that’ll be your problem there then”

surprisingly, for a modern (peugeot 208), there was a full size spare in the boot - and tools ! 

only one problem, the wheel was stuck fast to the hub - we took turns kicking the shit out of it but no joy  

i loosely fitted the wheel nuts and instructed paul to drive up and down a bit and stomp on the anchors. this achieved precisely sod all, made all the more frustrating as each time i had to fanny on with the piss poor jack to find the wheel stuck fast. 

“do you mind if i have a go ? this might be a bit rough “

with two bolts fitted, i gave it maximum beans, stomped that pedal good and hard and attracted quite a bit of attention from the next batch of park ‘n’ riders arriving from their day at work. no surprise that the car park guys also appeared, not as i anticipated to issue a bollocking, but to offer the loan of tools

turns out that they have a decent stock of gear to help the hapless commuter who has left their lights on all day or come home to a flat, and were  genuinely keen to help.

 by now the wheel was well and truly  detached from the hub so i stepped back and let them finish the job. 

nice to see a bit of decent customer care, i’m fairly sure the lads were pleased they were able to help us but were secretly wishing it was a couple of young office tottie instead of a pair of badly old blokes  

cheers, durham park ‘n’ ride lads ! 

 

 

[MrGTI6]

Been to Kwik Fit for the first time ever this morning. 

I received a random email from them last week for a discount code for some budget tyres that fit my car for £20 each fitted and balanced if I ordered two or more before the end of the month. 

My MOT is due at the start of November and the rear tyres needed replacing, so I thought I'd give them a go. 

Booked in for 8:30 this nothing, and I turned up a few minutes early. They got straight on with it and it was all done in a shade over 20 minutes. 

I know Kwik Fit have a bad reputation but I have to say the service was excellent. 

[Zelandeth]

20 minutes ago, MrGTI6 said:

Been to Kwik Fit for the first time ever this morning. 

I received a random email from them last week for a discount code for some budget tyres that fit my car for £20 each fitted and balanced if I ordered two or more before the end of the month. 

My MOT is due at the start of November and the rear tyres needed replacing, so I thought I'd give them a go. 

Booked in for 8:30 this nothing, and I turned up a few minutes early. They got straight on with it and it was all done in a shade over 20 minutes. 

I know Kwik Fit have a bad reputation but I have to say the service was excellent. 

Now have a close look to see if they've mullered your sills by not using the correct jacking points, and good luck ever getting the wheels off without an impact gun...

Bicester branch charged me £350 odd (car was being driven by my other half at the time - I was still 450 miles away up north as we were in the middle of the move south) for new front discs and pads plus a set of tyres back around 2013.

When I eventually made it down here a month or two later it became immediately apparent that they had never touched the front brakes.  Tyres were a totally different brand to what I'd ordered too.  Of course I complained - neither the branch nor head office were in the slightest bit interested.  I seem to recall having to jump on the end of a six foot breaker bar next time I wanted to get the wheels off too.

Going back further to ~2005 I stopped into the Aberdeen Dyce branch to have them replace a broken exhaust hanger on my way home from college.  They proceeded to tell me that my entire rear braking system was in dangerous need of attention, including needing new rear discs.

Two things...firstly the car had drums on the rear, secondly roughly two weeks prior I had rebuilt the entire rear braking system, right back to the master cylinder.  At least I got an apology from the branch manager that time.

The only other time I've used the group was just prior to moving south, so around 2012 in the central Aberdeen one when they were the only place who seemed to be able to get hold of the tyres in the size I needed in less than a month.  That experience was *almost* passable, though I still had to straighten the lip on the bottom of the sills back out afterwards as they'd ignored me and jacked it there rather than under the proper points.

So I'm afraid no matter how good a deal they might wave under my nose, unless it's an absolute dire emergency I'd never even vaguely entertain the idea of going near one ever again. 

I'm sure there are good branches and bad branches, but my own personal experience has been universally poor at both ends of the country.

[Timewaster]

It has always been that tyre and exhaust chains are at the bottom end of the market.

There are some very good independents out there but the chains seem to be the worst.

Management incentives to rob customers seems to be the main issue.

The other is minimum wage, disinterested staff, each trying to do the work of 3 people.

Sitting in the waiting room of an F1 branch waiting an absolute eternity for them to not fit 2 tyres whilst listening to the service desk conversations was an eye opener.

That and the previous 3 failed attempts to get two tyres for a basic Focus.

It was a company car, so I had no choice.

I'm willing to bet they were the cheapest contract we could find. Despite me wasting £100s of company time when I could have been in and out of somewhere competent and back to doing something useful.

 

 

All that said, a friend of mine used to get his 911 serviced at the local Kwik fit and never had a bad word to say about them.

[Metal Guru]

9 minutes ago, Timewaster said:

It has always been that tyre and exhaust chains are at the bottom end of the market.

There are some very good independents out there but the chains seem to be the worst.

Management incentives to rob customers seems to be the main issue.

The other is minimum wage, disinterested staff, each trying to do the work of 3 people.

Sitting in the waiting room of an F1 branch waiting an absolute eternity for them to not fit 2 tyres whilst listening to the service desk conversations was an eye opener.

That and the previous 3 failed attempts to get two tyres for a basic Focus.

It was a company car, so I had no choice.

I'm willing to bet they were the cheapest contract we could find. Despite me wasting £100s of company time when I could have been in and out of somewhere competent and back to doing something useful.

 

 

All that said, a friend of mine used to get his 911 serviced at the local Kwik fit and never had a bad word to say about them.

Our local Kwik Fit are abysmal and I only used them because my wife had a company car. Far from doing unnecessary work , it was nigh on impossible for them to change tyres that weren’t actually illegal. I appreciate some of that might have been the lease company’s fault, but their attitude was awful and condescending.

However , I’ve had excellent service from other branches in emergencies while away from home ( Bridgewater and Strood thank you). 
I normally use a local independent who are excellent as are our local ATS.

I think it’s more down to the local management what the attitude of the staff are like.

[JMotor]

I did a very silly thing this morning. 

Plan is to return it to the road. 

[Joey spud]

I laugh when people say I won't use Kwik fit as they're crap and robbing bastards.

I visit around 150 of their sites twice a year to calibrate their tools and can honestly say there are probably a dozen or so that are I think are below par and I am a fussy bugger.

They do not nut gun up wheel fixings to 11 they use a torque wrench.

I've found a lot of their sites are managed and staffed by guys that have been in the motor trade for decades.

Strood is one of my depots and they're decent guys their master tech is ex JLR and the mot tester is older than me.

I had a guy tell me recently that he wouldn't use a dodgy company like KF and always had great service from his local Tyre Pros so stuck with them.

I didn't have the heart to tell him Tyre Pros is owned by KF too.

Like many trades it's hard to retain good staff many depots are undermanned a few ATS sites I visit can no longer open on a Saturday anymore.

[HillmanImp]

Got the new oil separator in. Quite easy, worst part was taking all the plastic shite off that was in the way. 

Was stuck in quite tight though. Had to climb on the car to yank it out. 

Will have to see if this solves the running issue. Its running fine at the moment. Lets see if it stays that way. 

Gonna take it for a bit of an Italian tune up this afternoon, maybe up to Harrogate or something and see how it gets on. 

[Conan]

Today I went to look at this 1992 shape Honda Civic Saloon. These've been on my radar for a few months now. It's 1.5-litre VTEC Manual. The seller said £800 would buy it.

Anything above 1/4 throttle the thing would hesitate and buck. Possible cause: bad distributor. Reason: rev counter also goes crazy when it goes nope. The rest of it is pretty wretched as well. Otherwise it runs and drive just fine.

I'm pretty sure I could spend another £2-300 fixing the issue and other few things and have something to bomb around in for a few months, part it out when I'm done and not lose much. But the level of arsedness is at all time low at the moment. It's not an uncommon or unusual car.